PUBLICLY questioned one week, lauded in front of the Kop the next, informed he could leave soon after and now encouraged to stay.

Given the complexity of Stewart Downing’s relationship with Brendan Rodgers, it is doubtful whether Dr Steve Peters, the psychologist hired by Liverpool to work with all members of staff, has any room left in his diary.

The gushing praise ringing in the ears of England winger Downing after he conjured his first Premier League assist – and followed it with his first league goal some 18 months after his move to Anfield from Aston Villa – hints at a happy ending.

If it has merely taken time for the Liverpool manager to work out Downing and the player, in turn, to realise what was in danger of slipping through his fingers if he quit, then his contribution in the 4-0 win over a feeble Fulham side ahead of the opening of the January window could not have been better timed.

“It was a kick up the a***,” said Downing of the tete-a-tete at the start of November, when Rodgers held open the exit door for him.

“I just thought, ‘I have to go for it’. I had nothing to lose. After we had that conversation it looked as though I would be on my way in January, so basically I had to play well to get a new club.

“I have never wanted to leave Liverpool. I was a bit surprised when he said I could leave. He was pleased with me at the start, but then things changed very quickly and I was told I could go.

“I don’t know who makes that decision, but one minute I was told I was doing well and the next I was told I could go, so it was a bit confusing. If he wants me to stay now that just shows how quickly things can change in football.”

The reality is that it would be a surprise if this story simply ends there.

It can be viewed as one of Rodgers’ strengths that he is prepared to change his mind on players, as has been the case with Jose Enrique, who was blackballed at the same time as Downing, but who is also now back in vogue.

Alternatively, it could be construed as a weakness on the manager’s part that he did not back himself to eke out improvement earlier and sought instead to usher in change. As an aside, no Rodgers’ signings started this match, although he could claim to have believed in Suso where others did not.

Yet Downing, 28, unlike Enrique, will see Liverpool’s buys in January directly challenge him, with Daniel Sturridge and Tom Ince having been lined up and the key is how he is judged from here on in.

He will not thread a pass like the one which allowed Steven Gerrard to add to Martin Skrtel’s opener or batter a finish beyond Mark Schwarzer from 18 yards before Luis Suarez completed his regular stroll. That does not mean he cannot have an impact.

Gerrard, the game’s best player who dazzled with an astute range of passing, is an example of that with his efforts under-appreciated all season by the fans, largely because his displays have not been capped by the goal he scored here.

“I find it incredible he can have had any criticism at all – it is ridiculous,” said Rodgers.

“From seeing him every day working and seeing him playing in the games, it’s incredible. He may not be getting the goals he did five or six years ago, but that doesn’t stop you influencing the game.”

It was a kick up the a***

Stewart Downing

It was Gerrard’s goal that brought breathing space and left Fulham in disarray. Manager Martin Jol had no answers other than to point to the absence of key men such as Bryan Ruiz, Steve Sidwell and Damien Duff and damning Kieran Richardson and Giorgos Karagounis.

“You need mobility, you need legs, you need aggressive players. We have to be better than we were here,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rodgers will have recognised the relentless pressing, incisive passing, clever movement, flurry of goals and grit to back up all the guile as his vision for Liverpool.